Chris Wood and Barclay Brown share a one-stroke lead heading into the final round of the Italian Challenge Open at Golf Nazionale.
Brown’s five under par third round of 67 was one better than Wood’s four under 68 as the pair reached 16 under for the week, one-stroke clear of Portugal’s Tomás Gouveia.
Both leaders are making their first start on the 2026 Road to Mallorca, and Wood says he is relishing being in contention so early in the season.
“I did a lot of things really well today,” he said. “I’m pleased with how I went about it. I didn’t know how far off the lead I was.
“A lot of the practice I’ve been doing is transferring to the course, and it’s brilliant practice to be in contention in an event because I’ve had to wait a while to have those sort of feelings.
“It’s exciting to feel like you’re in the mix going into tomorrow. The feelings you get of being in contention can feel quite hard but you’d much rather be in that situation than further down the leaderboard.”
It was the front nine that vaulted Wood into the lead with four birdies meaning he turned in just 32 strokes.
Although Wood will be looking for his maiden HotelPlanner Tour win tomorrow, he is focused more on the long term.
“It would be a great start if I could win tomorrow,” he added. "But if I go through the same process as the last three days, and things don’t go my way tomorrow, then they will over the next three, six months.”
It was a slow start for co-leader Brown, but five birdies in his last seven holes, including on the par five 18th, saw the 25-year-old move alongside Wood at the top.
Brown, who has been playing on the Alps Tour this year, relied on an invite into this week’s event and has the chance to secure full HotelPlanner Tour playing rights on Sunday.
“It would be nice to get a win tomorrow,” he said.
“It would be nice really to just have another good day and keep playing well. Any good finish would help me so I’m just trying to keep hitting good golf shots.”
“I had to weather the storm early on but I found some form on the back nine and was able to capitalise on pretty much all the chances I gave myself for a good finish.
Sebastian Friedrichsen and 36-hole leader Jhared Hack share fourth on 14 under par. Spaniard Javier Calles Roman, Englishmen Will Enefer and Scotsman Will Porter are one shot further back on 13 under par.
The final round of the Italian Challenge Open gets under way tomorrow at 08:00am, with Wood and Brown teeing off alongside Gouveia at 10:00am.
